From Keel to Sea Trial

This reading sits behind one of the Chain panels: a process traced trade by trade from its first step to its last. The chain is the museum's argument that nothing in a city is made by one person.

The panel text

A ship is built from the inside out and from the middle up.

1. Lines. Naval architects draw the hull; the loft turns lines into full-size templates. 2. Steel. Plates are cut, beveled and rolled; shipfitters build sub-assemblies flat on the floor. 3. Blocks. Sub-assemblies become blocks the size of a house, outfitted with pipe and cable before they are lifted. 4. Keel laying. The first block is set on the building way — the ship's birthday. 5. Erection. Blocks are craned into place and welded; the hull grows fore and aft. 6. Outfit. Marine engines, shafts, propellers, generators, wiring, joinery. 7. Coatings. Blasting and painting — the hull's only defense against the sea. 8. Launch. The ship meets water. 9. Sea trial. Engines to full power; the crew, STCW-certified, runs every system; the classification society signs.

Trades on the wall: welder, shipfitter, pipefitter, marine electrician, marine engine technician, painter, rigger, crane operator, STCW crew.

Reading further

The panel's series (The Chain) hangs together in Gallery G1, the Chain of Trades. Each panel in the series is printed at 48 inches on aluminum composite, lent to schools and libraries, and archived here with its reading.

The program behind the panel: Shipbuilding / Marine Fabrication

12.0–12.0 months full-time. Curriculum: Hull construction; steel & aluminum welding; shipfitting layout; marine coatings; outfitting.

Courses

• 1. Universal Core: Safety, Math, Communication & Career — 148 hr (core), $1,185
• 2. Hull construction — 205 hr (trade), $4,000
• 3. Steel & aluminum welding — 205 hr (trade), $4,000
• 4. Shipfitting layout — 204 hr (trade), $3,980
• 5. Marine coatings — 204 hr (trade), $3,980
• 6. Outfitting — 204 hr (trade), $3,980
• 7. Capstone Project — 216 hr (capstone), $2,160
• 8. Externship / Worksite Placement — 324 hr (externship), $1,295
• 9. Certification Exam Preparation — 90 hr (exam_prep), $900

Credentials: ABS/USCG Weld Test; AWS D1.1 Certified Welder; AWS D1.2 Aluminum; NCCER Maritime Welding; NCCER Shipfitting.

Every course above carries a written exam, an observed skills demonstration, a signed log and a safety audit; the program ends with the capstone, the externship and the credential exam.